Socrates programme

3. Rationale, Objectives, Target Groups (maximum 3 pages)
3.1 Explain the rationale of and background to the project for the dissemination and exploitation of results (current situation, previous or preparatory work, the results of any needs analysis undertaken etc.). You may attach appropriate but succinct supporting documents.

3.2 Define the concrete aims and objectives for the dissemination and exploitation of the quality finalised products and outcomes; describe the ways in which the situation set out under 3.1 above will be changed and the needs set out in 3.1 addressed by the project.

3.3 Explain what you consider to be innovative about the project, the added value and expected spin-off effects of the dissemination and exploitation activities envisaged by the project.

3.1. -Rationale and background to the project
In Electrical and Information Engineering, as in other fields, a lot of non compatible curricula are available throughout Europe (classical academic studies, engineer schools, technological institutes) with all the kinds of curricula structures or diploma we can imagine.The present situation is problematic in the sense that it is really difficult for a student to move from a university to another one and to get an equivalence either for a diploma (end of a curriculum) or during his/her studies (equivalence for a module or set of modules).
Two types of answers has been proposed by HEIs to deal with this aspect:

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  Some universities have launched some co-operations giving their students the possibility to go abroad for one semester and then validating this semester within their own curricula.
  

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  ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) is another mean given to universities to propose to foreign students some "standardised" modules.
  

All these solutions are a first step in opening the door to a wider student and staff mobility in Europe. The main common problem for these solutions is the lack of recognition because mainly of a non standardisation in both the curricula content and organisation definitions.

This kind of development needs to be academic field oriented, because the problematic may be different from one academic field to another one, in term of contents, although we think some co-operations in the field of "sciences for engineer" will be useful..

- Encouraging this students mobility is a pragmatic way to give them a European consciousness so we need a European support and recognition in order to carry out our activity, this support being for us indispensable to have the possibility to work at a European level.

- The availability of best practices - new technology based pedagogical resources available freely through internet opens the door to a virtual library, reachable by any citizen, at any stage of his/her own training, helping anybody to increase and/or improve his/her skills. To maintain contacts with the university for previous students, once in the industry, is also an interesting point, emphasised by some adult learners who have participated in a validation experimentation during INEIT-MUCON [Développement et évaluations d’outils pédagogiques en EEA dans un contexte européen. Thiriet J.-M., Hoffmann M. CETSIS EEA’ 99, Montpellier, pp. 57-60, 4-5 novembre 1999].
3.2. -Objectives